LONDON:
The BBC triggered outrage on the 2nd of December by calling for the views of extremists and fundamentalists to be given the same weight as those of mainstream politicians.
The corporation's head of television news, Peter Horrocks, said groups such as the Taliban and the far-Right BNP need more airtime – at the expense of moderate opinion.
He said all views need to be treated with the same respect, describing his proposals as "radical impartiality".
But his comments prompted furious reaction, critics labelling them "political correctness gone insane".
Horrocks came under fire in his former role as BBC2' s Newsnight editor - for demanding an end to the programme's aggressive dealings with ministers shortly after Labour came to office in 1997.
At the time, he told Newsnight staff "the model of the five years of Tory coverage must be thrown away", leading to fears he was giving the Blair government special treatment. In yesterday's speech given at Oxford University, Horrocks said: "The days of middle-of-the-road, balancing Left and Right, impartiality are dead.
"I believe we need to consider adopting what I like to think of as a much wider 'radical impartiality' - the need to hear the widest range of views - all sides of the story.
"We need more Taliban interviews, more BNP interviews - of course put on air with due consideration and the full range of moderate opinions." He warned viewers: "So get used to hearing more views that you dislike on our airwaves."


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